San Jose

Do you think you have the ability to outwit, outplay and outlast other humans? (Translation: Can you back-stab and bitch-slap people and look good doing it?).

If so, you might want to show up for a “Survivor” casting call being held Saturday (Feb. 15) the Westgate Center in San Jose.

The event will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Westgate, 1600 Saratoga Ave. Guests can find the registration area for the casting call in the main hallway, next to Crazy 8. Organizers will be interviewing and putting you on tape, so there is no need to bring anything but your ID.

The Bay Area has a long history of landing residents on the popular reality show, including a couple of winners in Vecepia Towery and Yul Kwon. The upcoming installment, “Survivor Cagayan: Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty,” also features a Bay Area resident, Morgan McLeod, among its cast.

Team San Jose tried to pull some strings but the puppet tuner “Avenue Q” has been scuttled anyway.

In the wake of the demise of the American Musical Theatre of San Jose, Team San Jose, which operates the Center for the Performing Arts, had tried to work out a deal with Broadway Across America to deliver the previously-scheduled March 4-8 engagement of the quirky marionette musical. Officials say contract negotiations broke down largely because there was not enough time to market show properly in a brutal economy. The successful January run of “Chicago” was also a collaboration between the two groups.

“We’re sad about it but there just wasn’t enough time to pull it off. We didn’t have enough lead time to market the show. It’s not a well-known brand like ‘Chicago,” says Dan Fenton, president and CEO of Team San Jose, “but we do hope to bring the show to town in the future.”

The economy, which has hit disposable income hard, only made matters worse.

“This economy moves very fast. There are a lot of dollars at risk,” says Fenton, “and they decided not to take the chance right now when people are not spending the way they used to.”

No new tickets had been sold to the show. TSJ officials are contacting the 1130 AMT subscribers with news of the cancellation. They hope to find ways to compensate ticketholders with discounts or preferential access to future shows. The organization is still hard at work trying to nail down plans to bring Broadway shows to town going forward.

Proposals have been solicited from three of the major national presenters including Broadway Across America, Shorenstein Hays Nederlander and the Nederlander Organization. Key issues include who can deliver access to the top shows and who has the highest potential to eventually repay the city the outstanding $1 million loan it had extended to AMT. Those funds would go back into the city’s coffers to replenish the Arts Stabilization Fund. An announcement is expected next month.